The epic, untold story of how some of the biggest names on Broadway and in Hollywood fought fascism, opened America’s eyes to the Holocaust, and forced the government to take action—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Black Count
In September 1941, a screenwriter sat in the bar of the “21” Club as two men with foreign accents told him a story full of twists and turns that took several rounds to grasp: secret rendezvous, encounters with the Gestapo, and midnight journeys down the Danube ferrying Jews out of Nazi territory. The men weren’t selling him material for a screenplay. They wanted him to help them save Europe’s Jews from total annihilation.
New York Times bestselling author Tom Reiss brings to life the relentless quest of Ben Hecht, the top screenwriter of Golden Age Hollywood, to shine a spotlight into the darkness. Reiss follows Hecht’s journey from the studio backlots of Los Angeles to the theaters and nightclubs of Manhattan, rallying to his cause, among others, the Marx Brothers, Kurt Weill, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and the stars of Casablanca. They toured Hecht’s pageant We Will Never Die across the country in 1943, awakening Americans to the ongoing tragedy, and exposed a shadowy government conspiracy to block Holocaust rescue, forcing President Roosevelt to make a momentous decision.
Sweeping in historical scope, full of heart, passion, and boundless determination, We Will Never Die captures a nation at a crossroads—as art, fame, and political power collided in the face of unthinkable catastrophe. When America’s dream factory confronted the world’s darkest nightmare, one man harnessed the power of creative imagination to defy brutality and indifference.
In September 1941, a screenwriter sat in the bar of the “21” Club as two men with foreign accents told him a story full of twists and turns that took several rounds to grasp: secret rendezvous, encounters with the Gestapo, and midnight journeys down the Danube ferrying Jews out of Nazi territory. The men weren’t selling him material for a screenplay. They wanted him to help them save Europe’s Jews from total annihilation.
New York Times bestselling author Tom Reiss brings to life the relentless quest of Ben Hecht, the top screenwriter of Golden Age Hollywood, to shine a spotlight into the darkness. Reiss follows Hecht’s journey from the studio backlots of Los Angeles to the theaters and nightclubs of Manhattan, rallying to his cause, among others, the Marx Brothers, Kurt Weill, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and the stars of Casablanca. They toured Hecht’s pageant We Will Never Die across the country in 1943, awakening Americans to the ongoing tragedy, and exposed a shadowy government conspiracy to block Holocaust rescue, forcing President Roosevelt to make a momentous decision.
Sweeping in historical scope, full of heart, passion, and boundless determination, We Will Never Die captures a nation at a crossroads—as art, fame, and political power collided in the face of unthinkable catastrophe. When America’s dream factory confronted the world’s darkest nightmare, one man harnessed the power of creative imagination to defy brutality and indifference.
Author
Tom Reiss
Tom Reiss is the PEN Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Black Count and The Orientalist, both New York Times bestsellers that have been translated into more than thirty languages. His work explores the hidden intersections of politics, identity, and storytelling across cultures and centuries. Reiss’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in New York City.
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